The following is a guest post by Ashley Perry Rodrigue, Healthcare Ambassador for Lenovo.

The number one priority for physicians will always be patient care. With modern technology and legislation that requires digital records the definition of patient care has expanded beyond the traditional medical meaning and now also must include the protection of patient privacy.

Physician use of mobile devices is quickly evolving from a trend to a necessity: in 2012, 44 percent of doctors reported using tablets in the workplace daily. Mobile devices like tablets allow caregivers access to their applications whether they are in a patient room, their office or at home – and if optimized for input, can result in a positive user and patient experience.

However, tablets present a different set of security concerns than PCs, including easier opportunity for physical theft, data vulnerability, user access to uncontrolled apps, and more. Yet security is something that hospitals and health systems simply cannot sacrifice. If patient files are misplaced, misused or stolen, consequences can include job and reputation loss. The results of Ponemon Institute’s 2012 Study on Patient Privacy and Data Security found that almost every hospital surveyed suffered one data breach, and 45 percent suffered more than five over the past two years. Of those, breaches due to lost or stolen mobile devices such as tablets or phones accounted for 18 percent, up from 7 percent in 2011.

At the same time, the Department of Health & Human Services is expanding its information security provisions. In January 2013, HIPAA introduced the “final omnibus rule,” a new, tiered penalty structure [Read more…]

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) saved more than $600,000 and enhanced the productivity of clinicians in its Family Medicine Residency Program by implementing Dell’s Mobile Clinical Computing (MCC) solution, according to a new commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Dell and released today.

TMH, which serves 16 counties in North Florida and South Georgia, participated in a year-long pilot study of the solution at its Family Medicine Residency Program consisting of 55 physicians who were also simultaneously adopting a new electronic medical records system.

“Dell MCC has been a great solution for us,” said Don Lindsey, chief information officer of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. “It helps balance the issues between being secure and ease of use. MCC helps keep us secure while allowing easy and productive access by clinicians.”

Designed to improve clinician efficiency without compromising security, Dell’s MCC solution combines desktop virtualization, single-sign-on and strong authentication technologies with expert consulting, implementation and support services. By storing information in the data center – not the endpoint device – MCC helps reduce the risk of lost or stolen data and simplifies HIPAA compliance. For the deployment at TMH, the solution featured Citrix XenDesktop® for desktop virtualization, Imprivata OneSign® for single sign-on and strong authentication, and AppSense® Environment Manager™ for profile management.

By implementing Dell’s MCC solution, TMH achieved a risk-adjusted return on investment of 83 percent with a payback [Read more…]